1. Home
  2. Births, deaths, marriages and citizenship
  3. Marriage venue licensing
  4. Licensing your venue for civil marriages and civil partnerships
  5. Apply to license or renew a licence for a venue
  6. Application form to license or renew a licence for a venue

Application form to license or renew a licence for a venue

Make sure you are familiar with the statutory and local requirements for licensing your venue.

You will not be able to save the form and return to it later. 

Before you start this form, make sure you have all the documents and details required. For a complete list, see Before you apply.

Please refer to our Privacy Notice for details about how and why we use your data.

Important: Please allow time to complete the form in one session (approximately 35 minutes).

About the applicant (licensee)

The applicant will be the main point of contact for all correspondence regarding the licence and will be the licence holder.

Type of application


About the venue
Please describe the type of venue to be licensed, and how it is usually used (for example hotel, restaurant, guest house, campsite, school, cinema, theatre, public house etc).




Your venue will receive a basic listing on our website. This includes text, a single image and a contact form to enable couples to contact you directly. (You can attach the image at the end of this form.) Please provide up to 50 words describing the venue, its facilities and the services that are offered.

About the Responsible Person

As part of the licence, a 'Responsible Person' (RP) must be appointed. An RP will have certain statutory responsibilities and duties to adhere to. They will be the main point of contact for registrars, and must be in attendance at any marriage or civil partnership ceremony for at least one hour before, and throughout the ceremony.

It is vital that the RP is aware of their role and responsibilities.

The RP can appoint members of staff at the venue as Deputy RPs to assist with related RP duties.

The RP must ensure that the Deputy RPs are aware of the key roles and responsibilities as identified in Section 3 of the Guidance Notes.

You must inform us if there are any changes to the named RP in the future.

Deputy Responsible Person(s)

Please provide details of those who will deputise in the absence of the Responsible Person.







Inspection of venue



Rooms and linked outdoor areas to be licensed

Legal ceremonies can only take place in a room or a linked outdoor area approved within the licence.

A 'linked outdoor area' is any area within the boundary of the built premises. This could be a garden, a field or other space that remains within the boundary of the main premises as identified on the licence and plans. The space should be seemly, dignified and easily accessible to visitors.

You may wish to license more than one room and outdoor area to provide couples with various options for their ceremonies.

Any outdoor areas must be identified in the plans submitted with this application form. Where possible, please use an aerial view to show a clear and distinct boundary of the outdoor area to be licensed.

You can add up to 5 areas on this form. To add more than 5 areas, please email VenueLicensing@eastsussex.gov.uk.





The first licensed space must be located inside the built premises.
Your first licensed space must be located inside the built premises.








Please provide the name of a private room that can be accessed by the registrars to complete the pre-ceremony interview with the couple 30 minutes before the ceremony is due to begin.

Health and Safety

The venue must comply with all legislative requirements relating to health and safety.

It is the applicant's responsibility to ensure such compliance.

It is the applicant's responsibility to ensure the health and safety of all registrars and ceremony guests at all times.



Parking


Two parking spaces should be reserved and made available for Registrars one hour before the ceremony.

There should be access from the parking to the entrance of the premises.

Declarations

For more details, please refer back to the statutory and local requirements for licensing your venue.

  • If this application is approved, I will comply with the Licence Conditions and Statutory & Additional Requirements and any special conditions attached to the grant of approval.
  • I accept that my agreement to the conditions set out in this application also apply to any person or persons employed by me or acting on my behalf in respect of the venue, and either: I am the owner of venue for which the approval is applied or I am not the owner of venue and the owner has been informed and does not object to this application.
  • I understand that the venue will be inspected for suitability before approval is granted and if this application is successful; will be subject to further inspections at least annually.
  • I understand that a public notice of the application will be made by advertisement on the East Sussex County Council website, with a 21-day period for objections to be made.
  • I understand that the approval, if granted, will be for a three-year period, subject to revocation if the conditions of said approval are not met.
  • I understand that the venue must satisfy East Sussex Registration regarding fire precautions and Health & Safety provisions.
  • I have read and understood the East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service's guidance on fire safety and understand that the Fire Authority will carry out a fire inspection of this venue.

Documents

Please upload the following documents.

The licensing process will not begin until all of the documents and full payment have been received.

A plan of the premises (1:100 scale) clearly showing the proposed ceremony room(s), any linked outdoor area(s) you wish to license, and also the pre-ceremony interview room